Chapter 10 - The Lake House Mirage
Melissa was a desperate woman,
and desperate women make incredibly stupid mistakes when their backs are pushed against the wall.
She had lost the mansion,
the cars,
the secret bank accounts,
and the man who had funded her pathetic existence.
But in her panicked,
alcohol-fueled mind,
she remembered the one property that Victor had mentioned on his deathbed,
the one place she thought was safe.
The lake house.
It was a stunning,
secluded cabin nestled in the mountains,
surrounded by towering pine trees and crystal-clear water,
a place Victor had always promised he would take her.
Melissa borrowed a rusty,
beaten-up sedan from a neighbor,
leaving her son alone in their terrible apartment,
and drove four hours into the mountains,
convincing herself that she could hide there,
that she could claim squatter's rights,
that she could somehow salvage a piece of the pie.
She arrived in the dead of night,
the headlights of her awful car illuminating the gravel driveway,
cutting through the thick,
heavy fog rolling off the lake.
She stumbled out of the car,
shivering in the freezing wind,
clutching a crowbar she had bought at a hardware store,
determined to break a window and take back what she believed was hers.
She crept up the wooden stairs of the massive deck,
her heart pounding with a mixture of fear and greedy anticipation.
She raised the heavy iron crowbar,
aiming for the glass of the sliding patio door,
ready to shatter the silence of the woods.
Suddenly,
the entire exterior of the house lit up,
massive floodlights clicking on with a loud,
electronic buzz,
blinding her instantly.
Melissa screamed,
dropping the crowbar with a clatter,
shielding her eyes against the piercing,
interrogation-level brightness.
"I wouldn't move another inch,
Melissa," a deep,
booming voice echoed from a hidden loudspeaker on the porch.
It was Ethan.
The front door swung open,
and my son stepped out onto the deck,
flanked by two enormous,
heavily armed private security contractors,
their hands resting casually on their holstered weapons.
Melissa froze in terror,
her jaw dropping,
staring at the young man who had completely dismantled her life with ruthless efficiency.
"What are you doing here?" she shrieked,
her voice echoing off the silent lake,
sounding desperate and unhinged.
"This is Victor's house,
he wanted me to have it,
he said so in the hospital!"
Ethan laughed,
a dark,
chilling sound that sounded exactly like me.
"My father didn't own this house,
Melissa," Ethan said,
walking down the stairs slowly,
towering over her trembling form.
"My mother transferred the deed to my name five years ago,
using a forged signature that my father was too drunk to notice he signed."
Melissa gasped,
stumbling backward,
realizing that every single escape route had been bricked off years before she even knew there was a war.
"You are trespassing on private property," Ethan continued,
pulling a walkie-talkie from his belt.
"And I have already called the local sheriff,
who is waiting at the bottom of the driveway to arrest you for attempted burglary."
Red and blue lights suddenly began flashing through the trees,
the sound of sirens wailing in the distance,
growing louder and louder,
closing in on her like a pack of starving wolves.
Melissa fell to her knees on the wet wood,
sobbing uncontrollably,
finally breaking completely under the crushing weight of her own defeat.
"Please," she begged,
crawling toward Ethan's expensive leather shoes,
"I have nothing left,
I have nowhere to go,
please don't do this to me!"
Ethan looked down at her,
his expression carved from solid ice,
devoid of any mercy.
"You should have thought about that thirteen years ago," Ethan whispered,
turning his back on her as the police cruisers pulled up,
their spotlights hitting her tear-stained face.
He walked back into the warm,
beautiful lake house,
closing the heavy wooden door,
locking her out in the cold,
dark reality of the life she truly deserved.
And as the police slapped cold steel handcuffs onto her wrists,
dragging her away into the night,
May you like
the final chapter of Victor's miserable legacy was officially,
and permanently,
